KDA STUDIO operations are really ramping up. There are two projects currently in the works with it being launched in Jan (TBD). I think right now the biggest hinderance is income. There needs to be a consistent revenue source coming from somewhere for this to be sustainable. I experimented with a store, but that is just too much to deal with and there isn’t a lot for us to sell at the moment. It was a good test, but there needs to be a better option. I have been doing some backend testing for this website and making it optimized as much as possible keeping the layout simple and consistent throughout. This will be it for now; I will write more later this month.
It’s exciting, but I am very nervous for what is next. KDA STUDIO will be making massive moves this year. I have already teamed up with good friends and fellow colleagues Taven and Nathan to help me out as we compete in a furniture design competition, and I am really excited to start. I would like to start right now, but I need some time to get adjusted in my new environment.
I have been thinking long and hard about the direction of this studio and where we will be in the next year and next five years. I know that the eventual goal is to work with clients and create actual built things, but I want to still keep that creative aspect and continue to be that weird yet interesting designer.
Here is what I know for certain. Now until January there are two projects I want to focus on the Architect’s Chair Competition and Type Graphic Activism with later competitions and projects planned for after January. After January, I want to embark on creating a long-term ambitious architecture-based project. It would never be built, but we would radicalize and change the way everyone perceives architectures. It is our mission to be a radical and guerilla studio; this future project will be that mission. We would participate in competitions and smaller projects, but this paper architecture project will be the main thing for while. The real problem will be establishing a program and project timeline.
Outside of that, currently, KDA STUDIO is operating as a sole proprietor mostly because I don’t want to deal with the tax requirements and headaches that come with an LLC and corporation status is never going to happen. Until a permanent address is established KDA STUDIO will remain a sole proprietor. However, I need to get a business bank account at the very least and set-up direct deposit so that I can pay people and not go through venmo because if you send a certain amount of money on venmo than you get flagged or I might just mail a check. Either way, I need to get payment set up.
I am on my own, and I want to continue creating and this studio with people keeps me in check.
I'm not ashamed to admit that JMU wasn't my first choice, and I came to JMU after being rejected from Virginia Tech. I wasn't a good student when I was in high school. I was a "B" and "C" student and did the bare minimum to pass my classes so that I can spend more time at home playing video games. When I was a freshman and lived at the dorms, I didn't really have friends, went to the dining halls by myself, and went back to the dorms when classes were over to play video games. Then, sort of out of no where, I had this realization that if I continued to do what I did in high school and don't push myself, I would see the next 4 years as a waste of time and regret the choices I made. So every day, I made sure to never waste a minute of my day or regret anything I was working on or doing.
From that revelation and mentality, it pushed me and, at JMU, I...
- Gave several presentations and lectures and presented at the National Conference for Undergraduate Research
- Been awarded 2 research grants, 1 fellowship, and 1 scholarship amounting to a total of $7000
- Exhibited my architectural and artistic works in 6 exhibitions with 1 exhibition being my first solo exhibition
- Served as the Studio Theatre Technical Director overseeing and supervising the production of more than 20 shows
- Scenic designed for 7 shows with 2 shows awarded for 'Outstanding Scenic Design'
- Worked on 40 shows with 90 theatrical credits (worked multiple roles for shows)
- Achieved mostly all A's with few B's making Dean's and President's List every semester since Fall of 2021
- Completed an undergraduate architecture thesis and was awarded with 'Best Undergraduate Architecture Thesis'
While my accomplishments are applaudable, the constant grind and working had its tolls. I wasn't sleeping. I wasn't eating properly. I was a walking zombie. I was constantly telling myself to keep going and keep pushing, wanting to do more and achieve more. What was the cost? Time. Time that I could've spent sleeping. Time I could've spent hanging out with friends. Time that I could've spent working on personal and passion projects I had.
So when I look back at my 4 years, I wish I ...
- Listened to my friends when they tell me to sleep more.
- Learned that there are limits and it is okay to stop. Nothing is worth killing or dying over.
- Set boundaries really early on.
Despite that, I don't regret anything I did, and I would do it all over again if I had the chance.
So as I close this chapter of my life, I look forward to what the future holds especially with my job at Clark Construction and operating my own studio "KDA STUDIO". For now, I go back to bed. I have a lot sleep to catch up on.
So what have I been up to.
Well, being that I am in my final year of undergraduate school, I am currently working on my undergraduate architecture thesis. My god. The seniors before me never talked about how much writing and research they had to do. Every day I feel like I have to write and research then I find something that makes me rewrite and find new research. Literally, today, I spent almost 4 hours reading on adaptive reuse when on Monday I was reading on functionalism.
Well, being that I am in my final year of undergraduate school, I am currently working on my undergraduate architecture thesis. My god. The seniors before me never talked about how much writing and research they had to do. Every day I feel like I have to write and research then I find something that makes me rewrite and find new research. Literally, today, I spent almost 4 hours reading on adaptive reuse when on Monday I was reading on functionalism.
In addition to my thesis, I am also working on a research project called “The Performative Art of Design” that focuses on how the creative process of other disciplines should be incorporated into architecture rather than us “reinventing” new design ideas and concepts. Actually, my first version of my thesis was about the performance elements incorporated in mass-produced architecture to revitalize architecture into a new era besides mass-production and prefabricated houses.
ALSO, I have to submit details regarding a solo exhibition I am doing in March. This is going to be a busy semester.
KDA is going well also. I have a person on “part-time” helping me out with some of the business and logistics into find projects and getting commissions. However, we won’t really be operating as a firm until I can raise capital through grants. Everything right now, including this website, is very much early stages. If anything this website is more a proof of concept than an actual studio, but I hope to change that soon because I want this studio to flourish and thrive.
ALSO, I have to submit details regarding a solo exhibition I am doing in March. This is going to be a busy semester.
KDA is going well also. I have a person on “part-time” helping me out with some of the business and logistics into find projects and getting commissions. However, we won’t really be operating as a firm until I can raise capital through grants. Everything right now, including this website, is very much early stages. If anything this website is more a proof of concept than an actual studio, but I hope to change that soon because I want this studio to flourish and thrive.